Welcome!
Welcome to the new ELCA Youth Gathering blog! We want to create a space for sharing the stories and experiences of the Gathering. A place that wasn’t filled with the latest updates or specific details, but rather a place...
People in Detroit are still talking…
People in Detroit are still talking about how well behaved – respectful, joyful, generous and kind – ELCA youth were. After 18 years working with the ELCA Youth Gathering I am no longer surprised by such comments. I have grown...
30,000 Lutherans – the ELCA Youth Gathering was art!
How do you define art? A painting? A sculpture? A fine piece of music? A moving play? Seth Godin, one of my favorite bloggers, defines art as “a human act, a generous contribution, something that might not work, and it...
A celebration of all of us together
A person’s favorite teaching of Jesus is, “So the first will be last, and the last will be first” (Matthew 20:16). S/he wants to know when it will happen. When will she get to “revel in the luxuries that [the...
We are brought together for a purpose and a message
“A few [weeks] ago we were dispersed; we did not know each other. Now we are together; we belong to each other.” This is part of a longer quote from a book by Jean Vanier, founder of the L’Arche community, that...
Build relationships with others this summer
You can track almost anything these days—patterns of food intake, fatigue, mood, number of steps you’ve taken, heart rate, and even how much REM sleep you got last night. This phenomenon is part of a rapidly growing movement of fitness...